Roman school, 17th century, Madonna and Child

Roman school, late 16th-early 17th century Praying Madonna Oil on canvas, 81 x 69 cm Frame 83 x 95.5 cm A divine whiteness reverberates with vibrant luster on the maphorion of the present Virgin. The palpable iridescence that structures the thin rosaceous garment, woven with the same fresh light, produces a slight rustle when she takes her hands off. The Madonna in fact takes a prayerful pose, opening her palms to underline her fervent ecstatic intention; the white neck is rendered with perishable fullness of pigments, like the hands, perfectly alive, and the very shiny eyes. With fine shrewdness the artist of the present styles the Virgin's hair with thin white ribbons, exacerbating the purity. An evocative light falls gently on the bust, a materialized sign of divine glory. The present can be traced back to the late Mannerist climate that prevailed in the capital after the emanation of the Tridentine council (1545-1563). The late Mannerist licenses that can still be seen there, such as the intense lyricism in the stylistic code adopted by the artist, are innervated in the new basic catechetical intent, which at the end of the century produced a certain figurative rigorism. The present, however, still responds to that extraordinary Roman dynamism that raised the capital to a bulwark for the entire mannerist lesson, matched only by a second artistic center, the Florentine one. The engaging carriage of the Virgin reflects the contemporary examples of Giuseppe Valeriano (1542-1596), a Jesuit painter, returning in the Marriage of the Virgin of the Roman Church of Jesus, as well as in the Madonna of Sorrows in the Recanati Altarpiece, equal ardor. But it is in the Assumption of the Virgin painted in four hands with Scipione Pulzone...

Roman School, 17th century Angelica and Medoro engrave their names on the bark of a tree Oil on canvas, 65 x 48.5 cm The canvas depicts one of the most famous episodes of O...

Neapolitan School of the 17th Century Battle scenes between Christians and Turks (2) Oil on canvas, 52 x 71 cm Framed, 61 x 80 cm One genre that met with wide acclaim in seventeenth-century Neapolitan painting and flattering success among collectors was that of battle. The Parthenopean nobility loved to adorn the walls of their salons with battles depicting single acts of heroism or complex combats that exalted patriotism and warlike prowess, virtues with which members of the wealthy aristocracy of the time liked to identify. The Church, in the Neapolitan area, was also at the forefront of commissions, commissioning artists to depict the spectacular triumphs of Christendom over the infidels, such as the memorable naval battle of Lepanto in 1571, which marked a historical turning point with the great victory over the Turks, becoming a repeated iconographic motif imbued with devotional value, replicated several times through the interest of the Dominican order, which was very devoted to Our Lady of the Rosary, who benevolently followed earthly events from above in heaven. Other themes dear to the Church within the genre were drawn from the Old and New Testaments, such as Constantine's Victory at the Milvian Bridge or St. James at the Battle of Clodius. Among the leading Neapolitan artists of that period, several specialized in battle scenes: these include Francesco Graziani, known as Ciccio Napoletano, a battler active between Naples and Rome in the second half of the 17th century; Andrea De Lione, who lived in Naples from 1610 to 1685, a versatile narrator of battles without heroes, of horsemen assaulting or retreating, and of profane scenes immersed in a wild and primordial, yet already classicized, nature; and Carlo Coppola. The latter was active for more than twenty years, from 1640 to 1665, and his catalog, which is interesting because it bears witness to a particular historical moment and the tastes of private patrons, has yet to be defined, although many of his works are initialed. It is precisely to Coppola's corpus that these two paintings could come close: with the production of the Neapolitan battler the two paintings seem to share the smoky colors, the accentuated chiaroscuro and the marked dynamism of the scenes. Moreover, it is necessary to mention how that of the battle between Christians and Turks was an absolutely central theme in Coppola's pictorial production. Also close to the manner of the two paintings analyzed here is the production of one of Coppola's most celebrated pupils, Giovanni Luigi Rocco...

17th century, Roman School Mystical marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Oil on canvas, 32 x 23 cm Frame cm 45 x 36 The saint is depicted in front of the Virgin holding the Child portrayed with the wedding ring in his hand, enriched with a precious stone. According to the Golden Legend, Catherine of Alexandria was a very beautiful young woman, the only daughter of the king of Costa, who had refused to marry the emperor Maxentius because she was a Christian and devoted to Christ. Maxentius, unable to convince her to sacrifice to idols, had sent to call the wisest men and fifty philosophers and orators who presented themselves and tried to divert her from faith in Christ. Catherine, however, played so well that she was able to convert them, arousing the anger of the emperor who condemned them to the stake. Catherine, however, who had criticized Maxentius for the new persecutions against the Christians, was sentenced to prison without food. Abandoned for twelve days, she was fed by a dove sent by God. Maxentius then decided to execute her with the torture of the toothed wheel become her attribute iconographic; but by divine intervention this broke and the young was saved. Finally, she was beheaded and milk flowed from her neck. Catherine’s princely status is witnessed here by her sumptuous dress. The iconography of the mystical marriage was born in the fifteenth century, probably because the traditional iconographic attribute, the wheel, was sometimes so small as to look like a ring, and refers to a vision that will always remain present in the mind and heart of the saint. In Heaven she appeared to her, among the Angels and Saints, Christ the Child, in the arms of the Virgin. He took a precious ring that the Virgin Mary handed to her and put it in her finger, saying "I, your Creator and Saviour, take you in marriage; confident that you will keep you pure until you celebrate your eternal wedding with me, in Paradise" When Catherine was laughing, she found in her finger the same ring that she had seen and had in Heaven, and she considered herself forever the bride of Christ. In this extraordinary episode we can see the heart of Catherine’s religious sense, and of all her spirituality. For her, Christ is like the bridegroom, with whom there is a relationship of intimacy, communion and fidelity; he is the beloved, whom she loves above all...

Madonna and Child late 1600s, oil painting on canvas from northern Italy, in good condition, within walnut frame, from a private collection in Milan. The work depicts the Virgin hol...

17th Century Italian School "Saint Joseph and the Child" oil painting on canvas 95cm x 67cm measures without frame frame size: 10cm good conditions golden frame Private Italian Colle...

Flemish School of the 17th century "Portrait of a Child" Oil on canvas label on the back with coat of arms 77.5 x 63 cm without frame 85.5 x 71 cm with frame good condition

Flemish school 17th century "Our Lady with the Child Jesus, St. John, St. Elizabeth and Zacarias". Oil on canvas Relined. Dimensions: 74 x 84 cm good conditions.